Post #11: Bernadette Devlin excerpt "The Price of my Soul”

 Words: 253

Bernadette Devlin was a Catholic woman who lived in Northern Ireland. In her time, Ireland was under British rule. Devlin was active in many civil rights movements for Irish people and Catholics. Because of the nature of the government at the time, Protestants and British ideals dominated their country. Devlin eventually obtained the Republican nomination and then was elected to the British parliament. In her autobiography “The Price of my Soul”, she describes a brief period in her life from this excerpt.

Her introduction, not the political sphere began in her younger years when she was ten due to the republican nature of her school. Devlin came from a how of talented children who all excelled at numerous things. Still, her mother made sure to keep them humble. When she was younger she often got into situations where she is put at a disadvantage. One day she was reciting a speech by Robert Emmett and people were furious. Page 189 says. “I was hated and look(ed) people straight in the face”. She had no problem sticking out, which made her a great leader. Devlin was someone who was defiant in the face of those who opposed her and did not let fear get the better of her. Yet she was still a fair person. Where Mother Benignus and Mrs. Bradley were arguing about British history and British teaching in school, Devlin had to be the one to calm things down. She knew which lines to cross but did not let her anger turn to bigotry.